Kidnappers demand $2m ransom

Mrs Wallert has hypertension and can hardly walk

Muslim rebels holding 21 hostages in the Philippines are said to have demanded a ransom of $2m to free one of them - a German woman who is unwell.

Philippines Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon announced the details during a visit to Beijing.

"The initial price was $1m for the German woman and then it became $2m, but we have asked them for a package deal for all 21 hostages," Mr Siazon was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP. .

The hostages' ordeal began on 23 April

The guerrillas had earlier agreed to make German tourist Renate Wallert's release the first topic of negotiations.

She is said to be suffering from hypertension. Reporters who reached the kidnappers' camp said she appeared to be barely able to walk.

"The German woman is very bad, very ill... She's been having nightmares," said journalist Florence Compain of the French newspaper Le Figaro.

"When she wakes up, she starts crying. They were all very depressed."

Abu Escobar, a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, had earlier said Mrs Wallert's speedy release would depend on the government meeting certain conditions.

The rebels have called for the military to withdraw from the area

Formal negotiations with the kidnappers were due to begin on Wednesday, when chief negotiator Robert Aventajado said he wanted a written list of demands, to end the confusion over exactly what the rebels wanted.

Mr Aventajado warned there could be months of tough bargaining ahead.

He is the third person to take the role of chief negotiator during the three-week crisis.

Demands

The initial demands made informally by rebels include a stop to all operations by the military in the provinces where hostages are being held.

The guerrillas have also asked to meet the armed forces chief of staff and the national police chief.

The government has agreed that troops should keep away from the area of the talks but ruled out some demands, such as the creation of an Islamic state and the establishment of Islamic law in the largely Muslim south.

The hostages were kidnapped on 23 April by Abu Sayyaf rebels from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan and brought to Jolo island in the Philippines by speedboat.

The hostages were able to phone home on Tuesday when journalists brought a satellite phone to the rebel camp.